Musetta's Waltz
by crazytheatregeek
Summary: This is the story of Mimi Marquez, her friendship with Angel and her relationship with Roger. It is the story of how this 19-year-old, HIV-positive stripper decided to measure her last year on Earth. Rated for swearing and "mature"content.
1. We Begin

**Hi everyone! This is my first fic in a long time and my first ever multi-chapter fic. This is a Mimi and Angel friendship story. The firstchapter is 3 years pre-RENT, everything else will happen sometime during the musical. The main purpose of this chapter is to lay down how they met, and how many other crucial character things happened. Another thing-this chapter taking place 3 years pre-RENT, both Mimi and Angel's characters, but Mimi in particular, are different-younger, less mature, and less hardened, in Mimi's case. Just thought I'd say that so they don't seem OOC. Forgive me for any mistakes, and thanks to my awesome beta ! (When she beta'd this, she added in here that I couldn't live without her and how she's my idol. Yes, Mary, I caught it and took it out. Sucks to be you. XD )**

**Disclaimer: If I owned it, it would have never ended.**

Mimi Marquez boarded the subway and slumped into a vacant seat. She rubbed her eyes and sighed. The perils of living as a 16-year-old girl alone in New

York City were truly taking their toll on her. Hungry, exhausted, and completely broke, Mimi knew that if she didn't find work soon her far-from-cozy little

lower East Village apartment would soon be a thing of the past.

She watched a few more people board the nearly vacant subway car; a frazzled looking mother with a fussy baby, an old woman, a grungy, angry

looking man, and a young drag queen who smiled slightly at Mimi before taking a seat. Mimi returned the smile a little too late. Not many people had

smiled at her in the past few weeks. But it wasn't as though there had been much to smile about.

Mimi closed her eyes as the subway lurched into motion. She was so frickin' exhausted. She opened her eyes again in time to see the man with the

angry demeanor slinking over to the subway pole in front of the seat where the young man in drag resided. The drag queen looked up at him cautiously,

a slight, polite smile on her lips. Suddenly, without any reason whatsoever, the man began spewing insults and curses, growling down at the innocent

who had done him no harm.

"Sick gay faggot, you disgusting piece of shit, I'll kill you, I swear to god I'll kill you and all of your faggot friends-"

Mimi's jaw dropped in outrage and horror. That nasty skinhead! She hoped that the drag queen would kick him with those lethal-looking platform shoes

of hers! Glancing over, she saw that the drag queen was now turned away from the man, her eyes ablaze and her mouth a small, hard line.

More insults were hurled through the air. Mimi noted with rage that none of the other passengers seemed to really care that an unprovoked personal

attack was taking place a few feet away from them. They simply watched it like a TV show, their faces blank.

Apparently, ignoring it wasn't working. With a sudden rush of motion, the drag queen leapt from her seat and grabbed hold of the pole the skinhead

was holding, facing him. "I am more of a man than you will ever be, and more of a woman than youwill ever get," She snarled in his face. "Leave me

alone."

Mimi was awestruck. The man slunk back to his seat, wearing a dazed expression like he had just been slapped. Looking over to the drag queen,

Mimi saw that she seemed like she was trying not to look too pleased with herself-eyes cast downward, fighting a grin.

"You go, girl!" Mimi hissed. "That was awesome!"

The drag queen looked up,surprised. A grin broke the surface.

"Thanks!" She said with a giggle. "I've always wanted to say that, and the opportunity presented itself."

Mimi laughed. "I have to say, it's an excellent comeback. I'm Mimi, by the way,"

"Angel," The drag queen replied. "Where are you headed?"

"Lower East Village." Mimi rolled her eyes.

"Really?" Angel exclaimed happily. "Me too!"

When the subway lurched to a stop, they got off together and stepped out into the crisp October air. Halloween decorations adorned a few

weathered-looking stoops.

"Isn't Halloween great?" Angel exclaimed while gazing longingly at somebody's jack-o-lantern."It's my favorite holiday, so eerie and mysterious and fun."

Mimi nodded. "I used to love trick-or-treating," she said.

They walked in a comfortable silence for a while, making their way through the Lower East Village. Angel turned to Mimi. "Do you live with anyone?" she

inquired. "Forgive me, but you seem a bit young to be living alone in New York City."

Mimi snorted. "No, I live alone. I'm sixteen, but I'm old for my age. You can't be that much older than me, can you?"

"I'm nineteen," Angel said. "But I guess you could say I'm old for my age,too. How long have you lived by yourself?"

Mimi sighed. "I left home at fifteen. Bit of a sob story. Drunk father, neglectful mother, lots of obnoxious siblings, et cetera. New York City may be shitty,

but it's better than what was home. That's the abridged version of my life, I guess."

She paused. Angel seemed thoughtful, as though absorbing and analyzing this information. Mimi wondered why he hell she just completely

opened up to a near stranger.

"How about you, Angel?" She awkwardly invaded the silence. "Why did you leave home?"

Angel' expression swiftly changed to one of badly concealed anger and hurt; her eyes staring straight ahead, her jaw set. "I didn't exactly leave

home, per se. Home left me."

Mimi opened her mouth to question this, but Angel cut her off, turning to face her, eyes dark and blazing. "I was disowned."

They walked on in painful, aching silence, until Angel hesitantly broke it."We're nearly to my apartment, sugar. I was wondering if maybe you'd like

to stay and have dinner with me?"

Mimi grinned brightly. "That would be great!"

* * *

And with that, Mimi Marquez and Angel Dumott Schunard became friends. Mimi realized that Angel was exactly the sort of person she'd been longing for, without really realizing it. Someone to look out for her and protect her, someone to laugh with and cry with. Someone to be her best friend.

One day, Mimi burst into Angel's apartment with a huge smile of relief and exultation on her face. "Angel! Angel! Angel!" She squealed, jumping and

dancing around. Angel looked up from her book, startled, then smiled and got up.

"What is it, chica?"

"Angel, you know how I thought I was gonna be evicted, right?" Mimi asked, bouncing up and down slightly.

"Yeah," Angel said. It had been something they'd been worrying about for weeks.

"Well, I GOT A JOB!!" Mimi sang out. "I have MONEY!! Soon, anyway!!"

Angel grinned brightly. "That's AWESOME, Meems!" she exclaimed. "Where are you working?"

Mimi's exuberant expression disappeared. She looked kind of hesitant.

"Well….they would pay me to dance….." she mumbled.

Angel frowned. She sensed that there was more to it than that. Mimi loved to dance.

"Where are you working, Mimi?" Angel asked again, cautiously.

Mimi looked down. "The Catscratch Club," she said in a small voice.

Angel's face was one of outrage.

"Ang, I knew you'd be mad-" Mimi started to say, but Angel cut her off.

"The CATSCRATCH CLUB?! They hired a SIXTEEN YEAR OLD to work at a STRIP

CLUB?!"

"Well, I told them I was nineteen." Mimi murmured.

"WHY?!" Angel shrieked. "So you can dance around looking like a slut in front of perverted men? What the hell were you THINKING?!"

"I need money, Ang," Mimi said in a pleading voice. "It's not like I want to work there. I'm desperate."

"I could help you," Angel insisted, resisting defeat.

"Angel, honey, you're a street drummer," Mimi said gently. "You can barely support yourself, let alone me."

Angel sighed. "No one else would give you work?"

"No one," Mimi said in a tired voice. "And believe me, I tried."

"Okay, then." Angel gave in. "But I still hate this."

"Believe me, Angel, so do I."

* * *

A few days later, Mimi was spending the night at Angel's apartment. They watched movies, ate junk food, and were just relaxing.

"Ang?" Mimi broke the contented silence. Angel looked up from painting Mimi's fingernails blue to match her own.

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to tell me, but.I was kind of wondering." Mimi stuttered. Maybe this was too much of a personal question to ask.

"What, Meems?" Angel looked concerned.

"I was wondering…..how did you get AIDS?" Mimi flinched back, feeling stupid for asking such a question. It wasn't her business. Still, the memory of

when she first found out about Angel's condition felt like a slap to the face. Someone so alive shouldn't be branded with a death sentence.

Angel's face was difficult to read. "Well, she said softly, "Basically I was young and stupid. I thought that somebody loved me, and I was ignorant

enough to believe him when he said so. I made a stupid mistake; he left me not soon afterwards, and now I have to suffer from it."

"Oh," Mimi murmured.

"Mimi," Angel said quietly. "It's okay that you asked."

* * *

Mimi walked alone out of the dark alley, trying to look as nonchalant as possible as she hurried down the sidewalk. She clutched the little bag

tightly nonetheless-the powder it held was more precious than gold.

"Mimi?"

Hearing her name, Mimi turned, startled, to see Angel heading toward her, smiling. "Hey, chica!" Angel exclaimed, pulling her into a hug.

"Hey," Mimi responded weakly.

"Where have you been?" Angel questioned. "I haven't heard from you since yesterday morning! I thought we had plans!"

Plans? What plans? Mimi could hardly remember. Her world had been so upside-down lately.

"I'm so sorry, Angel, I completely forgot." Mimi glanced around, nervous. She really needed to get home.

"Meems?" Angel said warily, suspicious that something might be up. "Is

something wrong? You seem all twitchy, and your eyes are kind of weird."

"No, I'm fine, Angel, overtired is all," Mimi lied hastily. "I should probably be getting home.."

But Angel's eyes had locked on the little paper bag in Mimi's hand, her

expression growing into one of fear and rage.

"You didn't," She said in a soft, menacing voice.

Mimi opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. For someone so generous and loving, Angel could be pretty terrifying when she wanted

to. She willed her vocal chords to work, feeling cornered.

"Angel, I'm fine, I'm not going to-"

Angel cut her off. "Do you want to get HIV, Mimi?! Do you want to die?! That's how it happens! You're nearly broke and you're spending money on this

stuff that will kill you?!"

Tears slid down Mimi's face. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Angel wore a look of dawning horror.

"You can't stop, can you?" she asked, her voice breaking.

Mimi shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said again, and ran away, clutching the bag to her and leaving Angel alone with her worry and pain.

* * *

Two months later, Mimi burst into Angel's apartment, clutching a piece of paper and trembling violently, fighting tears. Angel didn't need to see

what was on the paper. She knew what she would find: a death sentence.

Angel pulled Mimi to her and held her close while she sobbed. "Please, Angel," Mimi choked out. "Don't say 'I told you so.' "

"I won't, honey," Angel's voice was thick with her own tears. "I won't."

**Well, there's my first chapter. Don't you just love subliminal /review/**

**messaging?**


	2. New Beginnings

**Well, here is chapter 2 of "Musetta's Waltz." It is considerably shorter than the first chapter, but chapter 3 should be up fairly soon. I'm not incredibly proud of this chapter, it's kind of a just-keep-moving-it-forward chapter, but hopefully it's up to par and chapter 3 will make up for it. ******

Three years had passed since Mimi had contracted HIV. She wasn't much better off now than she had been back then- the Catscratch Club was still her primary source of income, she still lived in her crappy little apartment, and by now she was officially a junkie.

But one thing was going her way. Mimi was falling in love. She thought so, anyway. Technically, she had only had one conversation with the guy in the loft- he had lit her candle, tried to confiscate her stash, and awkwardly stood by while she flirted with him- but even though he seemed resistant, she knew that there had been a connection, and she was determined not to let this chance pass her by.

As soon as she got back to her apartment, she dialed Angel's number frantically.

"Hello?"

"Angel? Hi! I _have _to talk to you!" Mimi bit her lip to hold in her excitement.

"Oh, hey! Look, hon, can it wait?" Angel sounded kind of distracted.

"Why, what's up?" Mimi asked.

"Well, um…." Now she sounded shy and awkward. What was up with her?

"There's this guy I met…he was mugged…..I'm, um, cleaning him up….so….yeah."

Mimi grinned deviously. "Angel, you lost me at 'there's this guy.' Is he gay? Is he cute? What's he like?"

Angel moaned slightly and lowered her voice. "Yes. Incredibly. Amazing, indescribable, perfect. Can I go now, please?"

Mimi was surprised, happy, and sort of jealous. "Don't let me keep you away from Mr. Perfect any longer, Ang. But I want to meet him, and soon."

"Uh-huh," Angel agreed absentmindedly. "Oh, and Mimi? One more thing I want to tell you. " She sounded nervous again.

"Yeah?" Mimi replied.

"I killed a dog."

Mimi paused. "Wait, _what_?"

The dial tone was all she heard in response.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Later that night, Mimi was dressing in her sexiest. She was going to talk to that guy again. She was going to ask him to take her out. Mimi looked at herself in the mirror. Wild curly hair, silver-gray tank top that left her midriff bare, awesome bright blue pants, and giraffe-print boots.

She was so ready for this.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Mimi needed a new stash.

That jerk. That asshole. Who does he think he is, anyway?

Furious thoughts poured through Mimi's head as she huddled in her coat and glanced around for The Man-the drug dealer.

She had burst into Roger's apartment, asked him out, then kissed him, and he had completely blown up at her. She had tried to explain to him about the 'no day but today' philosophy, but he had just clammed up and ordered her to leave, saying he couldn't handle it at the moment.

He was missing out on his life, dammit! She was trying to lure him back into the land of the living, and what did he do? He kicked her out of his loft!

Mimi joined the clamoring group of junkies begging The Man for what he offered.

_Got any X, any smack, any jugie boogie boy, any blow?_

Feeling a tug on her arm, Mimi turned to find Roger of all people, who pulled her aside. Where the hell did he come from?

"Hey," he said awkwardly.

"Hey," she said cautiously-she had no idea what he wanted.

"I just want to say," Roger continued, looking down.

"I'm sorry for the way-"

"Forget it," Mimi cut him off curtly. She wasn't in the mood for forgiveness. So much for holiday spirit.

"I blew up." He finished, looking at her rather than the ground now. "Can I make it up to you?"

"How?" She wouldn't be forgiving him that easily, despite that adorable kicked-puppy look in his eyes…

"Dinner party?" He said it like a question, his eyes scanning her face for her reaction.

Well, she _was_ really hungry. And he was technically asking her out. Maybe holiday spirit was her thing after all.

"That'll do," she said, supressing a grin.

Suddenly, out of nowhere came The Man, rounding on Roger. "Hey loverboy-cutie pie," He mocked him. "You steal my client-you die!"

Roger turned to him furiously. "You didn't miss me, you won't miss her! You'll never lack for customers!" The Man walked away, angry. Roger turned to Mimi, all traces of anger having melted away.

"Come on, I want to introduce you to my friend Mark. Also, there's this performance art protest going on tonight…" He beckoned Mimi shyly and they started to walk away. Mimi looked up at the sky and smiled. A date with Roger, Christmas Eve, and it's beginning to snow.


	3. Starting to Learn

**This is chapter three of Musetta's Waltz, finally. I've realized that this sort of is becoming a Roger/Mimi story as well as Mimi/Angel friendship, but seeing as it's following Mimi's story I guess that makes sense. I'm just going to follow it where it takes me. This chapter has some angsty scenes, which are fun to write, ironically. Enjoy and review! Oh, and anyone who can catch the small reference to Anthony Rapp's memoir, Without You, umm……wins!! Yay!**

Mimi woke the next morning feeling slightly hungover. Her head pounded as she sat up, and she winced. She had slept on Angel's couch due to the most irritating of last nights events-Benny, her landlord, had put a padlock on the building. Hopefully a plan could be made to break back in soon.

The rest of the previous nights' events flooded back to her in a few flashes of memory. Mooing at the protest that became a riot. Dancing on the tables at the Life Café, proclaiming a joyful valentine to all things bohemian. Finding out that Roger, too, was HIV positive, which led to him pulling her aside and truly expressing his feelings-an exchange that ended in a kiss that wasn't one-sided.

Mimi stretched and yawned, still not feeling her best but giddy now that she thought of all that had happened last night. She lazily contemplated whether or not it would be worth it to stand up and get some cereal for breakfast. Before she could, however, Angel wandered in from her bedroom, dressed in pajamas without any makeup or wig.

"Morning, Angel," Mimi said.

Angel smiled sleepily at her. "Morning, Meems. Merry Christmas!"

"So…where's Collins?" Mimi inquired in a teasing voice.

Angel blushed. "He's still asleep, I didn't want to wake him."

Tom Collins, Angel's 'Mr. Perfect,' had become her lover in the course of the evening yesterday, the same day they had met. While the odds were astounding, Mimi had to admit that they seemed perfect together. She had met Collins last night, and found him charming-a handsome, witty philosopher and anarchist, easygoing, loving, and friendly. He actually, by some odd twist of fate, happened to be best friends with Roger and his sort-of-dorky filmmaker roommate Mark. Collins seemed to really love Angel, and Mimi could see why her friend was so smitten with him.

Collins had been planning to stay with Mark and Roger, but since the building had been padlocked he, like Mimi, had spent the night at Angels'. (Mark and Roger had stayed at the apartment Maureen, Mark's ex-girlfriend, now shared with her new girlfriend Joanne.) However, unlike Mimi, Collins had not slept on a couch, therefore Mimi felt the need to do what best friends do and stick her nose where it doesn't belong.

"Did you two have a nice night?" Mimi asked suggestively, smirking.

Angel glared at her. "Nothing happened, Mimi."

Mimi grinned wickedly. "Oh. So he slept on the floor in a sleeping bag and you both went right to sleep?"

Angel turned scarlet and looked away.

"Angel," Mimi continued, "You know you're going to have to tell me eventually."

Angel sighed, sounding very annoyed. Without looking at Mimi, she spoke.

"Fine, then. Yes, he slept in my bed with me. No, we did not have sex. What happened, if you must know, is we just….snuggled. And we kissed. And we talked." Angel smiled slightly, blushing. "And it was….kind of amazing," she added quietly.

Mimi's teasing expression melted. "That is the most frickin' adorable thing I've ever heard!" She crooned.

"Shut up," Angel muttered. "So what's the deal with you and Roger?" She asked, seeming eager to change the subject from her own love life. "You two just, like, ran off. What happened then?"

"Well," Mimi began, grinning slightly, "We just…talked. About taking a crazy 'leap of faith'-to quote Maureen's protest-and just trusting desire and chancing a relationship. Not everybody is capable if pledging undying love within one night." She teased. "Roger and I settled on admitting mutual attraction."

Angel smiled brightly. "That's really great, Mimi."

"What's really great?" A sleepy-looking Collins wandered in from Angel's bedroom, He kissed Angel good morning and nodded to Mimi, who waved.

"We were just discussing how Mimi dazzled Roger out of his state of oblivion," Angel remarked.

Mimi rolled her eyes. "Well, I am rather dazzling," she said sarcastically.

Collins turned to her, looking suddenly serious. "Girl, you ain't known Roger all that long. Take it from someone who has-he would not break. Ever since April died he was in this kind of funk where he just wouldn't or couldn't do almost anything. He had been really shaken by her death-you see, he had been the one to find her in the bathtub, with all that blood and that note telling him they had AIDS. That was just too much for him. He would mope around the loft, play his guitar, and just wallow in his misery. Mark and I tried to help him-we tried, my God, we tried and tried, but it just wasn't doing any good." He smiled at her, looking sort of sad. "We were still tryin' when you came along, and you just….blew him away. I don't understand it. All I know is, now that you're in his life, for the first time in over a year he seems to have hope for the future."

Mimi stared at him. "Oh," She said lamely.

Collins laughed when he saw her expression. "Not trying to dampen your Christmas spirit with a lot of heavy emotional stuff," he chortled. "I just figured you should know that Roger pursuing a relationship is a huge deal. It's practically unheard of."

Mimi nodded, unsure of how to process this. "Angel, can I use your shower since I'm locked out of my building?" She said dryly.

"Yeah, towels are in the closet." Angel said distractedly, gazing at Collins, who was drinking coffee, stealing shy glances at Angel every moment or so. Mimi was glad to give them some alone time-even though she often spent the night at Angel's apartment, now that Collins was there she felt like she was invading their privacy, imposing on them.

She mulled over the situation with Roger as she stood in the hot steam of the shower. Could she have really changed him so much and so suddenly? Was that even possible? She was so confused.

Suddenly, Collins' words about Roger finding his girlfriend, April, dead in a bathtub after her suicide came flooding back to her. April had left a note saying "We've got AIDS", then slit her wrists as an escape route. Suicide for AIDS. Blood for blood. Death for death.

Filled with a sudden, fierce terror for something she couldn't name, Mimi leaned against the wall of the shower so she wouldn't collapse. She slid down until she was sitting, trembling violently and fighting tears.

In the bathtub, just like April had been.

Mimi cried. She cried for herself and her past and her future and for April and for Roger, as the hot water poured over her and tried to wash her suffering away.

* * *

That evening, Roger and Mimi walked through Bryant Park, holding hands. It was cold, and Mimi was agitated. There was so much she wanted-and felt that she needed-to say to him, but the words just wouldn't form,

"Um," Roger said softly, in that shy and awkward way he had from avoiding people for so long. "I was just thinking that I should thank you," He concluded, looking away.

"For what?" Mimi asked.

"For….well , I don't really…I don't…"He glanced at her, looking so shy and unsure and tormented that Mimi's heart melted into a puddle. "Uh, never mind." He finished, and turned his face away again so it was cloaked in shadow.

"I heard about what happened to your last girlfriend," She ventured.

Roger nodded, eyes downcast. "April," he whispered, his voice caressing the syllabols as though he clung to them for dear life.

Mimi nodded and looked down. "You really loved her, huh?"

He sighed, stopped in his tracks, and turned away. When he spoke, it sounded as if it was tearing him apart to speak at all. "So much," He said. "I don't even know why I did. I…no, no, that's a lie. There was something about her that made her just so unique, so special, like she was the only person in the entire world who-who just, just got me, you know? And she was so screwed up, she was such a mess. She was such a perfect, beautiful mess."

He took a few deep, shuddering breaths. "And just look where she got me," He said bitterly.

Mimi looked at him, wanting so badly just to reach out and stop him from hurting. "Roger…" she whispered, "I just…."

At that point, Mimi had no words for him. All she could do was pull him to her and kiss him softly, tenderly. Just as if he was a little boy who hurt himself, she would kiss it and make it better. And Mimi was determined to use all of her love and all of her kisses to patch up the gaping wound in Roger's aching, bleeding heart.


	4. It Was Three Months Ago

**Hello all! This is Chapter Four! Yay! Soo…well, in this chapter I get into the beginnings of the whole Benny thing, which was insanely fun to write because it had a lot of room to be creative, because there isn't really much we know about it. This chapter is mainly a flashback to the Benny-and-Mimi days. I apologize for the suckisness of the previous two chapters, which just…bother me. I think this one is better though. So read, enjoy, and review, even if it's to tell me that this sucks beyond belief. Thanks to Mary, my beta! She gets an Angel hug!**

Mimi zipped up her boots, tousled her hair, and slashed some lipstick across her mouth. Her makeup was gaudy to the point of being obnoxious, and her outfit consisted of an incredibly skimpy leather bikini, fishnets, and leather boots. Ah, work.

She slipped into her silky robe for the beginning of her act. God, she hated this job. Mimi loved dancing, but this was practically the opposite. Sure, she moved to music, but this wasn't elegant, this wasn't art. Mimi was a sex toy, and she felt disgusting.

Making her way to the curtain, she sighed. A nineteen-year-old shouldn't have to entertain balding, middle-aged men for a living. _But then again, _she told herself, _I'm old for my age._ As if that really made a difference.

The music started, and she strutted onstage, her expression a mask of sexiness and confidence. She knew this routine by heart. Seductive spin here, hip shake there, try not to let them notice your skin crawling as they shove money into your bra. Yeah, it wasn't rocket science.

Mimi faced the audience, sinking slowly and seductively to the floor. Before she could spin around and kick her legs, however, she caught sight of someone in the audience that caught her so off guard she stopped, nearly toppled over, leapt to her feet, and yelled "What the hell?!"

The music went on, but the audience was confused, outraged that their pretty little sex toy stopped shaking her ass. Mimi could see her choreographer toward the back looking furious. She didn't care. This was ridiculous. She leapt down from the stage, and automatically everyone started pawing at her. She slapped some hands, and whispered with acid in her words "Keep your goddamn hands off me."

She made her way over to her target, glaring. "Benny," She said coldly. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see your show," Benny said, his voice a low, seductive purr. "I haven't seen it in ages." He looked her up and down, and she snatched his jacket from his chair to cover herself.

"You have a wife, Benny," Mimi snarled.

"That didn't seem to matter to you three months ago." Benny flashed her a coy smile, and she shuddered.

"I told you at the Life Café. It's over. I'm with Roger. And I'd like to remind you, in case it slipped your mind; thanks to you I'm technically homeless." She made to walk away because everyone was staring, but Benny caught her arm and pulled her back.

He looked thoughtful. "Ah…right. Your building. How 'bout we discuss it over dinner?"

Mimi stared at him warily. "You might actually reconsider?"

He nodded slowly. "How about you change and I take you out to eat?" he suggested.

Mimi thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"No. I'm not going to go out to eat with you. You have a wife, and I'm not going to let you cheat on her again." Benny opened his mouth to protest, but Mimi continued.

"I know eating dinner isn't technically cheating, but I don't feel….comfortable….doing so. Maybe I'll just drop in on you at home some day soon and we can talk about it. Talk about it, then leave right afterwards." She glared at him.

"I know how you are, Benny." She said. "I won't let it happen ever again."

And with that, Mimi walked away, still wearing Benny's jacket, leaving everyone in the room wholly confused. There was no way she could finish her act after that. She got dressed, mind whirring the whole time, and headed back to Angel's apartment, which, for the moment, was home.

* * *

Mimi burst through the door to Angel's apartment and flopped down onto the couch. Angel walked out of the kitchen, looking perplexed.

"Hey, Meems, you're back early," she said. Mimi groaned.

"Angel," she said. "Something really weird happened at work today."

Angel looked instantly concerned. "What happened?"

"Well," Mimi said, sitting up and turning around to face her friend, "Benny was there, and he tried to get me to come to dinner with him. He said we could discuss the possibility of him taking the padlock off of my building."

"What the hell?! What did you say?!" Angel exclaimed, sinking onto the couch next to Mimi.

"No, of course." Mimi said, "But I told him I might drop in on him to talk about it. Because if he's serious, shouldn't I at least try?"

Angel looked wary. "You know how he is, hon. I'd be damn careful if I was you. You remember how it was last time."

Mimi nodded. She knew all to well.

_Flashback – Three Months Earlier_

Mimi was cold. She felt terrible. She had spent all her AZT money on heroin this week, and now that was gone, too. She hadn't been getting as many good tips at the Catscratch lately; business hadn't been going well for the club for a while. No money for food, smack, AZT or anything else. She was feeling more desperate than ever.

Later that night, she walked out the doors of the Catscratch Club, just having finished her shift. She was debating with herself about which was a priority to buy first with the meager wage she had earned today: food, AZT, or smack? Did she have enough for a slightly more lasting amount of either?

Sighing, she leaned against the brick of the building, feeling slightly woozy. Her head hurt, and she closed her eyes.

"Um, excuse me?" A smooth, deep voice broke Mimi from her trance. She snapped her eyes open to see a handsome, smartly dressed black man standing in front of her, looking worried.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Mimi shook her head, then nodded, then began stuttering out a confused, incoherent sentence. "Yes, I mean, no, I mean, well, I guess I'm okay but I'm not great, I mean, well, I'm sorry, sir, but I really should be getting home." She made to walk away, but he stopped her.

"Are you one of the dancers? You look familiar." Seeing the pained look on her face, he quickly added "I'm sorry, that was rude. Would you like to come to dinner with me? You look dead on your feet."

Mimi stared at him. This man was an angel. "Oh, yes, _please_!" She said in earnest. Not wanting to sound desperate, she quickly backtracked, saying "I mean, if that's okay. It sounds like it would be nice."

He smiled at her and nodded.

* * *

Later that same night, Mimi and Benny-the man she had met-were making out fiercely on a couch in his ritzy penthouse apartment. Mimi felt so released and thrilled; something in her life was finally looking up. She grabbed his hand in hers, happiness bursting through her veins. Wait a second. What was that she felt on his finger? Hard, cold, metallic….she broke away from him to look at it.

It was a wedding band.

Gasping in horror, Mimi bolted upright, shoving his hands away. "What the fuck, Benny?!" She exclaimed in a whisper that was almost a scream. "You're-you're……you're _married_?!"

He nodded absentmindedly and put his hand on the back of her neck to try to pull her into another kiss. She leaped to her feet, shuddering.

"What's her name? Don't you care? You're cheating on her!!" Mimi swayed slightly. Though with a full stomach and pulsing with adrenaline, she was still severely lacking in the smack-and-AZT department.

Benny looked disappointed, like he had hoped she wouldn't care. "Well…" he said, "Her name is Allison Grey. She's my wife, but……I don't love her." He paused as Mimi stared at him in outrage, and continued. "You, on the other hand, are much more…shall I say…._enjoyable_ to be with." He stood up, and walked over to where Mimi was standing. He smiled seductively and traced her cheekbone with his fingertip.

"Weren't you telling me earlier how poor your financial situation is at the moment? If you want, I could help you out. I _am _your landlord, after all."

Why was his logic suddenly making perfect sense? Mimi thought of the wedding band on his finger, proclaiming him wed to someone he _clearly _wasn't suited for, someone who naturally wasn't worthy of him, and how could this be a bad thing if he wasn't really in love with her at all? She couldn't see the ring anymore, all she could see were his eyes and his beautiful, rich chocolate skin…..

Later, Benny broke apart from her for long enough to say "So I guess this means you don't care about Allison?"

"Allison who?" Mimi murmured against his lips.

* * *

They continued their passionate affair, meeting in secret places and hiding from the world. Mimi always was eager to get away from everything and just run off to be with him; he was becoming an even better release than smack. Speaking of smack, he even leant her money to pay for it, AZT too. Not that she ever told him where his money was going, but he didn't seem to care. A whisper in his ear that she was running low on cash, she would be taken care of.

Mimi wasn't sure if she loved him, exactly, but she loved the time she spent with him. It was the closest thing to a real relationship she'd had in a long time, despite the fact that it was an affair.

After a bit more than two months of bliss, however, Mimi could see that they were starting to fray. Benny didn't seem to care that much about her anymore, beyond her "company."

One day Mimi entered the dressing room at the Catscratch to see Benny standing much too close to a particularly, well, whore-y blonde and whispering something in her ear while she giggled. Mimi saw his hand wrapped around the girl's waist. He was slipping money into the waistband of her costume.

Mimi stared at him, outraged, fury pulsing through her veins. He looked up and met her gaze. His smile faded slightly and he made to go over to her, but she sprinted out the door before he could catch up.

* * *

After that encounter, Mimi sat on Angel's couch with her head on Angel's shoulder.

"Honey," Angel said softly, "You know that if he's the kind of man to cheat on his wife, he's likely to cheat on you too."

Mimi sighed. "Well, maybe I should know that, but he always told me that I was so much more important than Allison! I mean, he doesn't love her….I thought that maybe…..he was serious about me."

Angel smiled sadly. "Meems, no man who is having an affair cares about anything more important than sex. You should've thought about that."

Mimi sat up straight. "Well, what the hell was I supposed to think?!" She exclaimed with rage and pain tearing through her words. "He paid for my AZT, he took me places, he acted like he goddamn loved me!!" She drew back into herself again, and whispered softly, "So what now? Where do I go from here?"

Angel brushed a curl from Mimi's forehead. "Break up with him." She said simply. "Tell him he's a cheating bastard asshole, and you won't have any more of it. You're not his little bitch anymore."

Mimi nodded. "I will," she said, feeling strong.

And with that, Mimi and Benny were no longer a "thing." She went back to living single, and he turned off her apartment's electricity.

_End Flashback_

"Angel….." Mimi said, "What would I do without you?"

Angel laughed. "Die? Go crazy? End up as an old woman who spends her days drinking herbal tea, writing haikus and serenading her forty-seven cats?"

Mimi stared at her, shook her head, then continued. "Seriously, though, Ang. You always take care of me."

Angel gave her a small smile. "Well, that's what friends are for, right, chica?"

Mimi smiled back at her halfheartedly. "I just wish…that I could do the same for you."

Angel looked at her in a sad, patient way. "You don't have to."

Before Mimi could respond, however, there was a bit of a commotion in the hall. They heard a loud noise, then a stream of swearing.

"I think your professor's home, " Mimi teased, and Angel brightened up, going over to the door to let Collins in. He was hopping on one foot.

"I stubbed my goddamn fucking toe!" He exclaimed angrily. Mimi and Angel burst out laughing. Collins hopped over to the couch, and Angel went to tend to him.

"I should go see my boy, too." Mimi stood up and waved. "Bye hon."

And with that, she headed over to Maureen and Joanne's apartment, where her sullen, broken boyfriend was waiting.

* * *

Mimi strode through the doors of the apartment, which was quite modern and clean compared to the loft. Well, a lawyer did live there, after all. Mimi was glad that she was staying at Angel's instead. She waved a greeting to Mark, who was sitting on the couch looking entirely absorbed in his camera and didn't even seem to notice her. Maureen and Joanne were bickering in the kitchen. She heard the quiet strains of Musetta's Waltz wafting through the air and followed them to find Roger in the guest room, sitting on the bed and plucking absent-mindedly at the strings on his guitar.

"Hey," she said softly and Roger looked up. He set his guitar off to the side.

"Hey," He responded. She sat next to him and laced her fingers through his.

"Why do you always play that song?" Mimi asked him. She had heard those delicate notes too often for there not to be a reason for his playing them.

Roger looked away and gave one of his rare, small, awkward smiles. "I'm not sure exactly," he began slowly. "I just…love how it sounds so beautiful and sad at the same time." She nodded, and he went on. "And La Boheme is such a gorgeous opera."

Mimi smiled. "You don't strike me as an opera fan."

"I'm not, for the most part," Roger said, shrugging. "I just really…relate to that one."

Mimi thought about how Roger was so different than Benny, and how unfair it was that Roger was so much better a person and had so much harder a life. She wondered, as she sat with him and they quietly discussed different aspects of life, if there was a way to bring Benny back into her life for a short time without hurting Roger or herself. She wasn't going to be his whore again. All Mimi wanted was to have her apartment back, and she knew that Roger missed the loft. If she could somehow persuade their landlord to oblige, and therefore help everybody, wouldn't it be worth the risk?

* * *

**Authors Note: Thanks for reading, and reviewers=EPIC WIN!!! On a side note, this is what Mary, my beta, typed in place of my thank-you to her when she beta'd this:**

**"My amazing beyond belief beta for this chapter is my best friend Mary. I love her so, she is such a role model for us all. Oh, to be like her would be to smell a thousand roses!"**

**I just thought that was too much of a gem to not share with the general public. :)**


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